Does anyone even bother with the Self Evaluation anymore? I’ve done it every year, but nothing from it ever makes it into my annual performance review. Management seems to decide ratings, bonuses, and merit increases without taking it into account.
Our management is saying we have to do it, but enterprise wide email says its optional across the company. Is there any actual consequence for skipping it? Honestly, it feels like the outcomes come annual review are predetermined anyway.....
I treat these year-end reviews less like a formality and more like insurance — documenting everything I’ve done, since no one else will. A good paper trail never hurts, especially when “restructuring” season comes around.
Champion Mindset
Back when I worked there (over 5 years ago), my manager asked me to write my own annual performance review. She said she wanted to compare what I wrote with what she wrote, to see how closely they matched. Then she used what I wrote, word for word, as my official performance review. Pretty sure she didn't even write one.
Naturally, I wrote myself an outstanding review. I didn't matter; I barely got a raise. Now I've moved on, she's still there, doing nothing and raking in the dough.
I ask teammates to use that as a place to note their accomplishments and successes “outside the numbers”. Community involvement, projects, work streams, etc. I’m honest that if it’s not in a report it’s possible I won’t remember or fully know all they do, especially over the course of an entire year. It’s your time to shine in your own words and I can’t think of any decent reason to not do that.
The comment below is wrong. You can choose to enter self evaluation information, or not. Either way, the manager will not be able to enter their performance review of you until you submit the evaluation. However, they are correct in saying what your rating and likely merit will be ahead of time, and yes it really does not matter what you do or say in your self-evaluation. The rating and merit stuff is aggregated in your area or line of business and managers have to keep a bell curve of everyone with most falling into the “meaningful impact” rating. Also, unless you walk on water, you’re not getting “exceptional impact”. Coincidentally, if you sleep under water you can get meaningful impact. Good luck with your self evaluation and performance review, and that inevitably monstrous 2-3% raise.
It's all horse sh--e.
Sad to say but self evaluations don’t matter. Most managers have already had to submit their final reviews for their teams in excel format up to their managers. This happens every year. They will enter it in workday and some comments later in January or February but your review score has already been decided and set in stone. The self evaluations are a way to make you feel engaged, even though they are irrelevant in how truist really does things behind the curtain